


Bird on the Wing

by ladyjax



Category: Stargate Atlantis
Genre: Community: teylafen, F/F, Female Character of Color, Female Characters
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2006-07-08
Updated: 2006-07-08
Packaged: 2017-10-07 02:10:43
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,601
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/60272
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ladyjax/pseuds/ladyjax
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The progress of a relationship built on contradiction.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Bird on the Wing

**Author's Note:**

  * For [teh_gandu](https://archiveofourown.org/gifts?recipient=teh_gandu).



> Written for the 2006 teylafen ficathon. For teh_gandu who requested: Teyla/Novak-off world. Again, would prefer it to be femslash but it won't kill me if it was a)pre or b) gen.

Sable brown hair brushing a creamy white shoulder reminds her of the dark dappled fala birds of Athos. "You do not wear your hair down often."

She says this as she slips her fingers through the soft cascade before moving her hand up to softly massage the scalp.

"It's against regs, plus it's just not me."

"I beg to differ. Your face is softer with your hair down."

Hands that can sketch equations on a white board flutter like the birds in her mind.

"Uh, yes. Well, um, I...I'm no good at this." The statement is punctuated by a nervous hiccup.

Teyla laughs.

Capturing the flailing hands in her own, she imagines the soft touch of feathers in her palms. "And you think I am?"

Lindsey looks at Teyla, her eyebrows turned sharply upward. "You? But, but you're perfect!"

Teyla shakes her head. "I am only Teyla as you are Lindsey. That does not require perfection."

This time is theirs: a quiet summer evening on an empty world. If not for the other tents pitched around the glade, it would be easy to believe that they are alone.

Lindsey pulls herself out of Teyla's arms and shifts on her knees to the side of the sleeping bag. "Move up a little," she says. Teyla moves just enough for Lindsey to settle behind her then she leans back into a warm embrace, hair brushing her cheek as Lindsey gifts her with the lightest of kisses.

Wings, Teyla thinks.

**

Dr. Lindsey Novak is an engineer. Sober, reliable, not given to flights of fantasy on the best of days. She has an embarrassing tendency to hiccup when she gets flustered; it's one of the reasons she didn't accept Dr. Weir's offer to go with the Atlantis expedition.

Shay is the other reason but Lindsey doesn't think about her very much.

On board the _Daedalus_, Teyla is a fleeting shadow that Lindsey sometimes catches out of the corner of her eye. AR-1 is never aboard the ship for very long. The _Daedalus_ is either dropping Sheppard's team off somewhere or scooping them up from an undoubtedly dire situation. Lindsey is usually in engineering with Hermiod for company, far from the action.

In the mess she hears the bridge crew and some of the Marines talk about the latest close shave, this time involving AR-1 and a supervolcano. Lindsey's walking back to her station when a very large young man shoulders by her with a muttered "s'cuse me" by way of apology.

"No problem..." Her words die as she watches the giant (he does give that impression) continue on his way to the bridge.

"Please excuse Ronon," a soft smoke-roughened voice says. "He is very concerned about our teammates."

Just because she doesn't interact with them doesn't mean Lindsey is ignorant of AR-1's composition. Three men, one woman - just like SG-1 but different. At the moment, Teyla looks very little like her popular description: caramel-colored Amazon who would wipe the floor with you just for fun. Her ponytail is loose and limp tendrils of hair are plastered to her forehead; sooty streaks mar her cheeks and arms.

"Oh, oh no it's really not a problem," Lindsey says. "I understand. I'd be worried about my friends too."

Teyla is about to answer when a hacking cough catches her off guard. Lindsey steps forward, her hand slipping under the other woman's elbow as a support. "Shouldn't you be in the infirmary? I mean, you don't look so good." Teyla shot her a slightly amused look and Lindsey went on. "Okay, I didn't mean you didn't look 'good.' You look fine but not exactly 'okay.'"

By now a smile has broken out on Teyla's face. "Effects of our encounter with the volcano, I am afraid." Her eyes drop towards her chest and Lindsey flushes with heat until she realizes that Teyla is only looking at her nametag.

"I'm not military. I'm a scientist. Engineer actually."

"Doctor Novak?"

"Yes."

Teyla starts for the bridge but stops and smiles over her shoulder at Lindsey. "We will see each other again."

Lindsey wonders why that sounds less like a promise and more like a statement of fact.

**

They are careful not to indulge in love play while they are on the planet. For all that this world appears to be deserted, the Wraith could still appear at any time. They have tonight and this tent. Once they go back to Atlantis, there will only be three short days before the _Daedalus_ goes back to Earth.

Lindsey curls around Teyla like a blanket, one arm slung around her waist while her hand cups the slight curve of Teyla's belly. Warm breath tickles the fine hairs on the back of Teyla's neck, a counterpoint to the still chill tip of Lindsey's nose pressed against her.

**

In the main training room in Atlantis Lindsey sits in the window seat watching Teyla and Colonel Sheppard spar.

With a practitioner's eye, Lindsey sees beyond the whirls of skirt and sticks and focuses on the flexing of calf and legs. The practical application of skills gained over a lifetime lives in Teyla's every movement on the mats. The Colonel, by comparison, is still a little clumsy; Teyla's right - he doesn't practice like he should. The potential is there and Teyla is patient in drawing it out.

Sometime later, Lindsey takes her place on the mats and looks at Teyla (her lover and Lindsey still can't believe that most of the time) who looks back with one crooked eyebrow.

"Show me."

Her first impulse is to deny, deny, deny and the words rush into Lindsey's mouth. The ones that used to appease Shay: "I'm sorry," and "I'm not that good," are brushed aside by Teyla's: "I wish to learn."

"Are you sure?" Lindsey asks doubtfully. "I'm not a qualified instructor and maybe you should get someone who can really explain all the movements to you. Or I could get a video or something."

"I have watched you move," Teyla replies as if this explains everything.

"Right." Lindsey has to force her mind from any manner of things that would involve Teyla watching her move.

Self-consciousness falls away as her body flows in the familiar patterns; the wild horse and the crane find voice in her movements.

Later, Teyla says, "I did not know you could fly."

**

Teyla slips out into a pink-edged dawn and starts the first pot of morning tea. Sheppard saunters up and hunkers down beside her.

They haven't talked about her relationship with Lindsey although from the way his eyes slide briefly in her direction, she can tell that he wants to talk.

When Teyla hands him a cup of tea, his fingers brush over hers and he asks, "Are you happy?"

She doesn't answer right away.

Sheppard, John, begins to withdraw. "Sorry, I shouldn't have asked."

Her hand on his arm stops him. "I could ask you the same," Teyla says softly.

He knows she's referring to his on-again, off-again thing with Rodney and the fact that they've never talked about that either. But their day is just beginning and this is neither the time nor the place for a discussion that will surely test the bonds of affection and love between them. For now, Teyla slides her hand down his arm to entwine her fingers in his and gives the only answer that makes sense at the moment.

"Yes, I am happy."

**

When the _Daedalus_ is ready to depart, Teyla and Lindsey walk down to the west pier. Lindsey's kit bag is slung over her shoulder and her hair brushes the strap as she walks.

Teyla looks at Lindsey, memories of their final night together sending a frisson of pleasure up her spine. At the gate they stand together quietly, letting the morning open before them.

Too soon, Lindsey's radio sparks to life. "Right, yes, I'm on my way." She slips her bag to the floor and quickly tames her hair once more into a bun.

It's a little looser but still serviceable, still within the regs. Teyla digs in her pocket and pulls out a holder of tooled leather. Lindsey's eyes light up and she takes the holder and secures it around the bun with the smooth wooden stick.

"If I may," Teyla says and reaches up to bring Lindsey's forehead to her own before sliding her hands to the other woman's shoulders. "Be safe," she whispers.

Lindsey closes her eyes and changes her angle so she can brush her lips lightly across Teyla's own. "I will," she replies.

They don't speak of love yet, although it would be so easy to let that slip from their lips. Everything is still new and some old wounds are barely laid to rest but Teyla knows how easily she could fall for this woman of contradictions.

Another click of the radio and Lindsey breaks away from Teyla with a roll of her eyes. "Yes, Hermiod, I understand we have to get going. I'll be right there."

She shoulders her bag once more and begins to walk backward towards the ship. "I'd say I'd call but it would be a little hard and I have to go. So," Lindsey pauses at the doorway, "um, when I get back..."

"Dinner to start," Teyla says with a laugh. Lindsey grins, her face lighting up.

"I'll bring something good from home." And with that, Lindsey Novak is gone.

Teyla stays in the safety zone until the _Daedalus_ is off and away. Then she heads back to the city proper, her day stretching ahead of her full of promise.


End file.
